Start saving now, Nintendo NX likely to be expensive

Nintendo has learnt many lessons from the troubled lifespan of the Wii U and that is likely to be both good and bad news for the Nintendo NX.

It will undoubtedly benefit from the extra time the company wants to put into its development before a March 2017 release. However, it could also turn out to be much more expensive than previous Nintendo consoles.

Speaking during the company's Q&A session with investors, on the back of its posted financial results, CEO Tatsumi Kimishima revealed that the NX will not be made at a loss. It is thought that the Wii U hardware cost Nintendo more to make than it could recoup in sales alone. Software sales would make up the shortfall.

"We are not thinking of launching the hardware at a loss," he said.

"When Wii U was launched, the yen was very strong. I am assuming that situation will not repeat itself. Selling at a loss at launch would not support the business, so we are keeping that mind in developing NX."

Considering that it is widely speculated that the NX will be a much more powerful machine, on a par with Xbox One and PS4, yet is also described as a "totally new concept", that is likely to mean it won't come cheap.

On the up side, Nintendo doesn't want to repeat the issues that it faced when launching the Wii U. It announced the current console at E3 more than a year before release and clearly felt under pressure to deliver.

Both the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 were released a year later, so it was immediately superseded in hardware terms - resulting in a shortened shelf life.

"We want consumers to continue to play this game system for many years, so we believe that in the beginning it is most important to make sure that everything is in order at launch," said Kimishima.

"In that sense, our approach is that we should wait until we can provide a fully realised experience rather than rushing to launch in the holiday season, and this approach has not changed."